The Latest From Spain, Way Beyond Foam

By MELISSA CLARK

Published: January 26, 2005

FOOD mavens from around the world compared notes on the latest culinary wizardry last week during the Third Annual Madrid-Fusi?astronomic conference. Celebrated chefs like Ferran Adri?f El Bulli in Rosas and Juan Mari Arzak of Arzak in San Sebastian showcased exploding desserts and solid soups, smoking cocktails and electric milk. There were lessons in liquid nitrogen technology and calcium chloride applications, and new ways with foams and gel?.

But leave it to a fish eye to bring down the house.

The eye in question belonged to a rockfish that was about to be deconstructed by the newest chef on the Spanish scene, Angel Le?f Casa del Temple in Toledo. The eyes, whites only, were used to thicken the sauce for the fish. In a sauce made with plankton juice for shrimp, Mr. Le?sed dried, powdered fish scales as a thickener. The difference in the sauces' textures was subtle: The eyeballs emulsified the liquid as eggs would; the scales added collagen for a thin, shiny, gelatinous consistency. Using fish products rather than traditional thickeners, Mr. Le?aid, ''brings the dish, and the diner, closer to the sea.''

While seemingly outrageous, Mr. Le? creations were within relatively easy, if perhaps queasy, reach of any chef -- including those without a chemist and physicist on the payroll -- and even a determined home cook. And that innovation seemed to be the biggest trend at the conference, which was government sponsored. While Mr. Le?onsulted with a scientist to perfect the fish eye emulsion, a cook can replicate it with little more than a good knife and a blender. For that reason, these trendy techniques will likely spread beyond the three-star realm, and become part of the wider culinary canon. Remember when foam was exotic?

''By coming up with new techniques, people like Ferran and Arzak gave us a fresh perspective,'' said Anya Von Bremzen, the author of ''Celebrating Spain!'' to be published by Workman in the fall. ''In 20 years deconstructed food will be pass?but the revolutionary methods they developed will still be here. It's similar to the way the Impressionists completely destroyed figurative painting.

''But what's really important is how it's now filtered down to the more traditional places,'' she continued, inhaling a cigarette on a break from the conference, ''the casas de comidas. You go to a little nothing place near the Boqueria in Barcelona and you get homemade egg pasta with Parmesan ice cream and aged balsamic reduction. They are all under the influence of Ferran.''

Even the advanced technology may soon become more accessible. Mr. Adri?lans to start marketing calcium chloride kits, which chefs use to coagulate liquids in order to form a thin shell. He used it to give pea soup the texture of egg yolks, and to create melt-in-the-mouth rum lozenges for a ''pi?olada'' topped with spun sugar.

Another low-tech but high-drama presentation centered on the exploding dessert, invented by Mr. Arzak, a close friend and mentor to Mr. Adri?It consists of a fresh strawberry milkshake that effervesces into a cascade of pink, flower-like bubbles when mixed with dry ice. Look for it on New York menus in the next six months. But probably not the de-furred, deep-fried rabbit ears, which some chefs called the best chicharron (cracklings) ever. I kind of missed the familiar porky tang.

Falling into the don't-try-this-at-home category were the dishes dependent on liquid nitrogen. Though many chefs use it to flash-freeze everything from cocktails to foie gras, the most flamboyant execution, of course, belonged to Mr. Adri?who whipped licorice sticks in a blender as his assistant ate flash-frozen pastilles of the resulting mousse, blowing smoke-like water vapors from his nose. Not surprisingly, the dish is called the Licorice Dragon.

''Ferran and I like our food to be fun and entertaining, and science is a big part of that,'' Mr. Arzak said, ''but more important is the integrity of the cuisine. For me personally, cooking and science go hand in hand. But you don't need science to be inspired and create something. Keep your eyes open like a child and inspiration will come, from everywhere.''